


On to the Next Adventure

by McChef



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Family, Friendship, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-17 22:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17569406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McChef/pseuds/McChef
Summary: Approximately 20 years after Season 5, Steven and Connie make preparations for their next adventure. Difficulties of a being a Gem/human hybrid arise.





	1. The Party

Connie put the tape into the stereo and hit play. “Should we get started?”

Steven held his hand to her. “May I have this dance?”

Connie crossed the floor of the temple’s living room to him and took his hand. Steven reached his other hand around his wife’s back as she put her other hand on his shoulder, and they began to slowly dance. The music was played by an acoustic guitar as a man softly sang in a language neither of them knew or recognized. Peridot had given the unlabeled tape to them as a wedding gift but was never able to sufficiently explain where she acquired it or who was performing it. It had become their favorite song.

They were in their thirties now. Steven had finally had a few more growth spurts, one at 16 and the other at 27. He didn’t grow much taller between 16 and 27, just older and bigger. He was very big now. He was tall enough that Connie, who wasn’t short, could rest her head on his upper chest as they danced. His chest and shoulders had grown broader. He still had quite a bit of soft fat, but now someone wouldn’t have to poke hard to feel the muscle he had developed underneath. Connie was all hard muscle. Steven could feel how strong she was even as they danced, in her back as he held her, in her arm that she rested on his shoulder, in her hand as she held his.

Her head still on Steven’s chest, Connie said, “we should go over it one more time.” She was referring, of course, to the list of reasons they shouldn’t do what they were doing, and all the reasons they were doing it anyway.

“Did you think of something else?” Steven asked.

“No, it will just make me feel better.”

“OK,” Steven said. “Well, item one is that if this works, we’ll never be able to fuse again.”

“And I’ll miss that a lot,” Connie said, “but dancing with you the normal way is good, too, and at least we won’t have to worry about being interrupted by accidental fusion.”

Steven chuckled. “Right.”

Connie removed her head from Steven’s chest and looked up at him. “Item two is that, if this works, you’re going to be in a really bad way.”

“Only at first. We’ve tested this a couple times. I’ll feel like death and be basically bedridden for a few weeks, then another month of not being much help to anyone, but eventually I’ll be back to full strength. Well, as full strength as possible considering the circumstances.”

“That brings us to item three,” Connie said. “If this works, you won’t be able to help the Crystal Gems anymore.”

“Sure I will!” Steven said. “Just not in the same way I do now. Besides, someday I’m going to get too old to go adventuring like that, anyway. I might have a few more decades in me, but if we wait that long, we’ll be too old to start this next adventure.”

“ _ I’ll _ be too old,” Connie said, “You could find someone younger to do this with.”

Steven was surprised. Everything else they were discussing had been said a hundred times before, it was practically scripted. But Connie had never suggested this before. Steven pulled away slightly so he could really look into Connie’s face. “Connie, if this was something  _ you _ didn’t want to do, I would find someone else for this, but I want it to be with you.”

Connie smiled. “Of  _ course _ I want to do this with you, Steven.” She leaned up and kissed him, and they held the kiss for a few seconds.

“And now we’re at item four,” Steven said when they pulled away. “If this works, we have no idea the kind of toll it will have on your body.”

Connie continued to smile. “I know,” she said. “But this is something I’ll gladly take the risk for. And between modern human medicine and the help of the smartest Gems in the universe, I’m pretty confident that it’ll turn out OK.”

“We do have a lot of great friends,” Steven agreed. They danced silently for awhile. “Was there anything else?”

Connie’s head was back on his chest. “No, I think that’s everything.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

The tape had run out, but it didn’t matter. The speed of Steven and Connie’s dancing increased, until they were twirling across the floor. As they felt the warm glow start to spread across their bodies and the white light start to cloud their vision, Connie leapt into Steven’s arms, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms behind his neck, and they fused in a passionate kiss.

Stevonnie came into existence already dizzy from the twirling, and they staggered to the couch and sat down for a minute to catch their balance. They looked around the temple’s common area. It hadn’t changed much in approximately two decades. Many of Steven’s things had been removed or put in storage, since he and Connie lived in their own home down the beach now. But it still had the same kitchen and the same couch, and Stevonnie knew it still had a bed in the loft behind them. The Gems didn’t use these spaces very often, so there wasn’t any reason to change them.

Stevonnie stood up and walked to the bathroom, flipping on the light. They took in their appearance in the mirror. Unlike Steven and Connie, Stevonnie never really looked any bigger or older than the first day they fused. Their clothes were different every time; Steven still had a pretty limited wardrobe but he had outgrown the red star shirt and flip flops at least. And now that Steven was a pretty hairy guy, Stevonnie usually started out with some facial fuzz. Stevonnie considered shaving, but decided against it. They weren’t sure how old the razor in the cabinet was, and spending their last day with razor burn would probably be worse than with a patchy beard. Steven and Connie had at least dressed up for the occasion, and Stevonnie’s outfit seemed to be a combination of Connie’s sundress and Steven’s linen suit jacket, although it all seemed to be one garment. And bare feet, of course.

Stevonnie sighed. “OK,” they said to their reflection, “let’s get this over with.”

Stevonnie stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the front screen door. They looked out the window at the small group of their closest friends and family gathered on the beach near the stairs to the temple. Stevonnie’s hand rested on the door handle for a few seconds before pushing it open and stepping into the sun.

“Hey guys,” they called out. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up, returning Stevonnie’s greeting. Stevonnie walked down the steps and into the small farewell party.

The first person that Stevonnie greeted was Garnet, clasping each other’s hands.

“Thank you so much for teaching me what it means to be a fusion, Garnet,” Stevonnie said.

Garnet squeezed Stevonnie’s hands. “This is an incredibly selfless thing you’re doing for Steven and Connie.” A few tears slid out from underneath her visor. “I’m not sure if I would do the same for Ruby and Sapphire even if it were possible.”

Stevonnie hugged Garnet around the shoulders. “You would do anything for them,” they said, “but they would never ask you for anything you couldn’t give.” They held the hug for a long time, then gave each other one last hand shake.

Stevonnie walked to Amethyst next.

“This isn’t much of a party, dude,” Amethyst said, her hands as always behind her head and trying to look as bored as possible. “It’s not too late to get some music and food out here, really make this an event.”

“We did that last night,” Stevonnie said. This farewell party was really the last of many they had had over the last few weeks, doing the things they liked to do for fun, eating their favorite foods, and meeting with all of the many friends they had met over the years. “Just make sure you keep having lots of parties with Steven and Connie, and in a way it will be like I’m partying with you.”

Amethyst smirked. “You don’t have to be sappy about it. But yeah, I will.”

“Good luck out there, Amethyst, you’re not gonna have me around to watch your back.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. They hugged, and then punched each other in the arms a few times before Stevonnie stepped to the next partygoer.

“Pearl.” Stevonnie and Pearl went in for the hug immediately, then pulled back to look at each other, arms still around each other’s waists. Unlike the other Gems, the last few times Pearl had poofed and reformed, she made herself look older by human standards. The hair at her temples was gray now, and lines creased her forehead. No one ever mentioned or discussed it, so Stevonnie didn’t know if she did it for Steven’s benefit or if she just admired a mature look. Stevonnie eventually broke the hug and stepped back from Pearl. “Thank you for teaching me so much over the years. And thank you for the opportunity to help on so many missions.”

Pearl waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, Stevonnie, we should be the ones thanking  _ you _ ! The number of times you’ve saved the day have more than tripled the value of the time and effort I put into training you. Oh, do you remember last year when we visited that Homeworld colony and the native fauna started to overrun the warp pad? I acted calm at the time because I didn’t want to worry you, but until Steven and Connie fused into you and started battling them back, I was really worried we might be stranded there! Oh, oh! And I was just thinking the other day about that time when…”

Stevonnie smiled and let Pearl reminisce about their best adventures for a few minutes, but eventually interrupted her when she got started on the story about how difficult tracking down and curing the last corrupted Gem had been. “Pearl, before I forget, I have one more favor to ask of you.”

“Oh my goodness, anything at all!”

“I’ve written letters for everyone.  _ Everyone _ .” Ever since this plan had been decided on, months ago now, Stevonnie had started writing letters to everyone they knew as Stevonnie, which at this point was just about every human and Gem in Beach City, lots of people from around the world, and even a good number of Homeworld Gems. The letters ranged in length from the several dozen pages that had to be put in manila envelopes for the Crystal Gems and Steven and Connie’s parents, to a couple sentences on a postcard to the girl who worked the sunglasses stand that Stevonnie had only met once but they had spent a few minutes discussing the latest blockbuster. Basically, if they had ever had a conversation with Stevonnie, they got a letter. “They’re all in the dresser in the bedroom in the loft inside. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to send them all out, but if anyone ever comes around asking about me, would you give them their letter?” Stevonnie had figured it would be less awkward to pick up the letter from Pearl instead of Steven or Connie, considering that Steven and Connie would know exactly what was in the contents.

“Letters! Oh, of course, I love letters! Oh, Stevonnie, I’m so excited to read what you had to say!”

Stevonnie looked at her suspiciously. “Pearl, there  _ is _ a letter for you, but please don’t open any letters written for other people.”

“Oh! No, I didn’t mean  _ that _ . But they would probably let me read it after they did, right?”

Wondering if they should have given the task to Garnet instead, Stevonnie kissed Pearl on the cheek and said, “Thanks, Pearl.”

The next people to say goodbye to were Connie’s parents, Doug and Priyanka Maheswaran. “Hi Mom and Dad.” They all smiled at each other. The Maheswarans had hesitated to accept the familial titles from Stevonnie at first, but at this point Steven was their son in his own way, too, so now it seemed natural.

“We’re really proud of you,” Doug told them.

“As hard as this must be for you, I think congratulations are in order,” Priyanka agreed.

Stevonnie laughed, and threw their arms around both the Maheswarans’ necks. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted someone to be happy for me,” they said, “instead of sad. I’ll be honest, I’ve been a little scared.”

“This is a pretty scary next step for people even in normal circumstances,” Doug said, “and in your case even scarier. It’s OK to be afraid.”

Stevonnie stepped back, rubbing a few tears from their face.

“I want you to know that I’m going to make sure that both Connie and Steven will receive the best possible care, medically speaking,” Priyanka said. “If either of them needs me to come out of retirement for any reason, I’ll happily do so, otherwise I can pull whatever strings they need to be seen by the very best of my colleagues.”

“Thank you. I want to say that they won’t need it, but to be perfectly honest, I’m really not sure. This is all going to be pretty new.” Stevonnie reached out and took a hand of each of them. “Thank you again for accepting me, and Steven, into your family. I know this was all really hard to understand sometimes, but you always did your best to make me feel welcome. I couldn’t have asked for a more loving family.”

“Bringing you into our family was one of the best decisions we ever made,” Doug reassured them.

Stevonnie squeezed their hands one more time and moved on to the last guest.

Stevonnie didn’t say anything before they threw their arms around Greg Universe’s neck. “Dad,” they said softly as they held each other for a long time. Greg had never expected Stevonnie to call him anything else. Like the Maheswarans, Greg was obviously older now. His hair was completely gray, and he finally cut it short, at least by Greg’s standards. It was still down to his shoulders, but it was easier for him to reach it with a brush now, with his increasingly less flexible arms.

Eventually they pulled apart, and it was obvious that Greg could tell that Stevonnie was getting nervous. “This is a pretty big thing you’re doing here, kiddo. You know that no one, not even Steven or Connie, will be mad at you if you decide you don’t want to do it.”

“I know,” Stevonnie said. “But I want to do it, too. It feels right, like this is supposed to be the next step. Did Mom ever act scared before Steven was born?”

“Sometimes,” Greg admitted. “Just like you, she had a lot of friends and a lot of reasons for sticking around. But mostly she was just excited about what was coming next.”

“Yeah. That’s kind of how I feel, too.” They stood in silence for a few seconds. “OK. I think it’s time to get this show on the road.”

“Are you sure? We still have time to make this a real party. I could grab my guitar, we could make a campfire and roast some hot dogs…”

Stevonnie laughed. “You and Amethyst should have talked about this beforehand.” They turned away and walked to the center of the gathering. “Hey guys?” When they had everyone’s attention, which they basically had already, they continued, “thank you so much for being here. I know I didn’t do anything besides say goodbye, but it means a lot to me that I was able to do so. Anyway, I’m going to go unfuse now.”

“Do you want us to be in the room with you?” Priyanka asked.

“No, I need to be alone so I can concentrate. Although, Garnet, if you could wait outside the door? Steven will probably need someone to carry him.” Garnet nodded, and Stevonnie continued. “OK. Once again, thank you for coming. If you want to start a real party, Amethyst, go ahead, but, uh, keep it down for the next couple minutes. All right. OK. I’m gonna head inside now.” They were a little frustrated that their speech hadn’t come out as eloquent as they had been planning, but they turned and headed up the stairs to the temple living area, followed by Garnet. They entered the house and nodded at Garnet who leaned against the exterior wall, facing the other way.

Stevonnie stood in the living room and caught their breath for a minute. When they weren’t calming down, they went back to the stereo and picked up the other cassette that was sitting next to it. It was an instrumental heavy metal song, artist unknown. Lapis was the one who had given it to Steven and Connie, and she had been as evasive as Peridot about where she got it or who it was by, although it seemed that they didn’t get the tapes in the same place. Stevonnie had no idea why they would have a different taste in music as Steven and Connie, but this was their favorite song.

Stevonnie sat down on the couch and listened to the whole song, trying not to think at all. When the song ended and the stereo fell silent, they closed their eyes and started what this whole day had been about. Stevonnie searched themselves for the essences of Steven and Connie, trying to isolate them. Once they had identified them both separately, they focused on Steven.

Stevonnie had split into the three beings that they truly consisted of a few times before, as they were testing whether this could work. There was Connie, there was human Steven, and there was Steven’s Gem, who was totally creepy when separated from Steven. Probably it couldn’t help it; it was just the embodiment of the power of the Pink Diamond, and seemed to need to be joined to a human to express any kind of personality. Stevonnie frowned and pushed that out of their thoughts.

What Stevonnie was doing now was harder. They weren’t trying to split the three entirely, but rather split in a combination they weren’t used to. They briefly considered that they would be pretty embarrassed if they went through today’s whole production only to not be able to do this. They pushed that thought aside, too. If it didn’t work, they would have time to be embarrassed about it then.

Stevonnie took a deep breath. There was Connie, there was Steven...and there was Steven’s Gem. All right. Separate that Gem from Steven. Bring it over to Connie. Stevonnie was breathing pretty hard. “I love you,” they said quietly aloud, although they had no idea who it was addressed to. OK. There’s Steven. There’s Connie and Steven’s Gem. OK.

Stevonnie unfused.

Steven woke up, head pounding and feeling like he was about to vomit, even though he, Connie, and Stevonnie had all avoided food since last afternoon for exactly this reason. He opened his eyes and even though his vision was blurry, he could tell he was in his old bed in the loft upstairs. The blinds were drawn, filtering out the afternoon sun. He also noticed that the dresser that was usually near the foot of the bed was missing.

He looked up, and Connie was sitting near his shoulder, petting his hair. “Hey,” she said, smiling.

“Where’s the dresser?” he asked through a strained, crackling voice.

Connie grinned. “I asked Garnet to take it into her room. She’ll manage the letters.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Steven said. He tried to laugh but that made a new wave of pain and nausea rack his body. He groaned and looked down at his torso. Someone had already stripped him of his linen suit, and he was lying in just his boxers. His Gem was missing, leaving a smooth, belly button-less abdomen. He looked back to Connie, sitting there radiant and calm, and looked her up and down. “...How long was I out?” he managed to ask.

“About an hour,” she answered.

He reached out and touched her stomach. “How are you already this big?” Her belly had a noticeable roundness, even through her loose cotton dress.

“Your Gem isn’t small, Steven! It takes up space!”

Steven felt his face splitting in a smile. “So it worked?”

“Well, we won’t know for sure until it can be detected by a doctor, which if this is anything like it would be in normal cases we won’t be able to do for awhile.” She covered her hands over his, still resting on her stomach. “But it feels good, Steven. It doesn’t feel like I just have a rock implanted in my abdomen, it feels like the real thing.”

“Oh my god.” Tears started pouring freely from Steven’s eyes, and he saw that that made the same thing happen to Connie. “Oh my god, we’re going to be parents.”

“I think we are,” Connie said, laughing through her tears.

After several minutes of just touching his wife’s belly and marveling in everything that they had planned so much for but still felt completely unexpected, Steven felt his tears slow down and dry. “So where did everyone go?”

“Greg and Amethyst really did start a campfire and are roasting hot dogs. I convinced them not to play any music, though.”

“Mm, it’s OK if Dad wants to play his guitar. His acoustic, I mean. And I’d really appreciate a hot dog once my stomach settles down.”

“OK, I’ll let them know. Is there anything else I can get you right this second?” Steven shook his head, so Connie leaned down and kissed him softly before getting up and walking down the loft stairs.

Steven stared at the ceiling, running his hands over his abdomen and feeling where his Gem used to be. They had done this a few times now, and he knew he would get better eventually, but it was scary knowing he wouldn’t be joining back with his Gem ever again. But the excitement of what was coming next overcame that. Out of all the adventures Steven had been on in his life, this was going to be the scariest, most exciting, best adventure yet.

Another wave of nausea hit, and Steven grabbed the bucket they had left near his bed and this time really did vomit what little was left in his stomach into it. He would have to get through this adventure first.


	2. The Experiment (Prequel)

“You’re going to do  _ what _ ?!”

Steven did not act surprised by Pearl’s reaction. “I’m going to try unfusing from my Gem to see what happens,” he said again.

Connie and Steven were in their early twenties, and were sitting on the couch in the temple’s living room. Steven was on the main section facing the door, and Connie sat on the section perpendicular to it, leaning against the wall with her feet on the coffee table. Garnet and Pearl stood facing them across the table, and Amethyst sat on the couch to Steven’s left.

Steven was still living with the Gems in the temple. Connie wasn’t living in any permanent home, spending approximately equal time between her parents’ house, Peridot and Lapis’ new barn back at their farm, and the temple. When she stayed at the temple, she usually slept on the couch instead of in Steven’s bed. He hadn’t visibly aged since his rapid growth spurt at 16, and that had put a damper on their physical relationship.

“You already know what will happen,” Garnet said, her arms crossed over her chest, “you almost died last time.”

“We don’t actually know if that would have happened,” Connie said. “He was only separated from his Gem for about a minute. That’s too short to get a true diagnostic in.”

“And so what,” Pearl asked, “you two want to just wait around and see if he dies?” She was pacing a small distance back and forth, and alternating between crossed arms, fidgeting hands, and hands on hips.

“Of course not!” Connie patted the box sitting on the floor next to her. “I got my mom to lend me this portable vitals monitor. We’ll hook him up, and at the first sign that he’s getting worse, he’ll just fuse back!”

“But why even take the risk?” Pearl asked. “What possible purpose could this have?”

“Well,” Steven said, “I thought it might be useful for situations when a human can go somewhere a Gem can’t. Or the other way around. It seems to be able to use all its powers without being joined to me, and probably doesn’t need things like oxygen and food, right?”

“Those kinds of situations aren’t worth the strain on your body,” Garnet said. “We would find a way around whatever happened without having to put you through that.”

“I guess,” Steven said. “But there’s kind of another thing I’ve been thinking about.” He clasped his hands in front of him, twiddling his thumbs and looking slightly away from Garnet and Pearl. “I kind of want to see if I can pass my Gem on to the next generation of human.”

Nobody said anything right away. Connie tried not to move, not wanting to draw Pearl’s attention, who looked somewhere between shock and fury.

“What is  _ that _ supposed to mean?!” Pearl finally asked, after a few seconds that felt much longer.

“I mean…” Steven glanced at Connie, but she gave a small shake of her head, not offering any help. He sighed and faced Pearl. “Look, I’m going to get old someday, right? Wouldn’t it better if I could give my Gem to someone younger before I’m too old to go on missions with you?”

Pearl touched her chest, and her demeanor softened slightly. “Is this all coming from your birthday last week? I’ve heard that humans get a bit existential about that kind of thing.”

“No, that’s not it! I’ve been thinking about this for awhile.”

“How would you even do it?” Garnet asked. “White Diamond pulling your Gem out didn’t generate a little baby.”

“I haven’t really thought that far ahead,” Steven admitted. “If the unfusing doesn’t work, then it doesn’t matter, and if it does, I’ll have time to figure it out then. Dad and Mom found a way to make me, we should be able to do the same.”

“‘We?!’” Pearl looked at Connie. “Is that what this is about? You two just want to start having babies together?” Connie resisted the urge to cover her face. “Just have an organic one! You should be able to do that, right?” she asked Steven.

“That’s not with this is about!” Steven protested. “I already told you, it’s about passing on my Gem. I don’t even know if Connie would be involved in the process, but she’d definitely be a co-parent.”

“How would you even raise it?” Pearl asked the two. “Would you raise it like Greg raised Steven, living in a van and couch surfing until it’s old enough to come live with us in the temple? Oh, neither of you actually own a mode of transportation, but you could stay in that shack that Connie and Peridot have been building a quarter mile down our beach!”

Connie was angry, and she stood up to address Pearl. “We’re not going to start  _ right now _ ! We’ve got time! We can take a break from missions for a few years and get full time jobs!” Steven was currently taking over for his dad whenever he could at the car wash, and Connie had a part time job at the first aid hut at the public beach, working with a girl who covered for her whenever an unexpected mission came up. She didn’t make much money, but she didn’t need much considering her living arrangements. Someone who didn’t know what she did with the Crystal Gems probably thought she was just another Beach City beach bum, but she knew better. She told herself she wasn’t ashamed, even though she got defensive whenever someone like Pearl made a slight against her. “And it’s not a shack, it’s a house, and with Peridot’s help it’s going to be amazing! She made her and Lapis that new barn after all!”

“That barn is a safety hazard and you know it!” Pearl countered.

“It’s completely structurally sound, even if they did install a few booby traps!”

“Guys!” Steven held up his hands in a plea for peace. “It doesn’t matter right now! We still don’t know if I can safely unfuse.”

Connie sat back down, but Pearl responded, “And you’re not going to find out, because I won’t allow it!”

“I don’t like it either,” Garnet said. She was much calmer than Pearl, but her stern expression had never faltered and her arms were still crossed imposingly in front of her. “The risks just aren’t worth whatever you’re trying to gain.”

“Um...if we’re bringing this to a vote?” Amethyst finally spoke. Her knees were pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. “I think he should do it.”

“What are you talking about, Amethyst?” Pearl asked, the irritation in her voice somehow finding room to increase.

“Well...he’s right, isn’t he? He’s gonna get old.”

“So what?” Pearl asked. “Getting older doesn’t mean he can’t be part of the team, even if he does slow down a bit.”

Amethyst unfolded her legs. “We’ve been living among humans on this planet for thousands of years. Did you ever really stop to consider why we never made friends with them before Greg came along and changed everything?”

“Well, we never really had anything in common with them, for one,” Pearl said. “Rose had some idea of not interfering--until she met Greg--for two.”

Amethyst slapped the table. “It’s because they  _ die _ , Pearl!”

Pearl recoiled slightly when Amethyst hit the table before she recovered. “What...he...we don’t know if that will happen to Steven!”

“Why wouldn’t it?! He does everything else a human does! He eats, he sleeps, he uses the bathroom! Well, that’s something humans do, too! They die and they leave us!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Pearl yelled. “It’s two against one!”

“ _ Fine _ !” Amethyst yelled back. She stood up and made her way to the front door. “Then I’m gonna go hang out with my human friends like Greg and Vidalia! While I still can!” She slammed the screen door behind her.

Pearl turned to Steven. “There you have it,” she said. “You aren’t allowed to unfuse from your Gem!”

“I wasn’t really asking for permission. I just thought you’d want to know that I was doing it.” Steven’s response was calm, at odds with the emotion the rest of the conversation had had.

Pearl’s neck flushed blue. “Fine!” she said. “Do whatever you want! But when everything goes wrong, don’t come begging  _ me _ for help!” She stomped to the Gem portal and into her room, the door swooshing closed behind her.

“So, I didn’t expect that to go  _ well _ ,” Connie said, “but I think that argument turned into something else at the end there.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal,” Steven said. “What about you, Garnet? Got anything to say before you storm out of here?”

Garnet shrugged. “I don’t like your plan, Steven, but if you’re doing it anyway, I’ll help where I can.”

The portal swooshed back open, and Pearl hurried over to them. “I’m not going to pretend I’m not extremely angry,” she told Steven and Connie, “but I didn’t mean that last part. If something goes wrong,  _ please _ tell me, and I’ll come help right away.”

Steven smiled. “I know, Pearl.”

Pearl hesitated for a second, and then turned and stomped back to her room as angrily as she had the first time.

Connie sighed, catching her breath. She leaned forward and slapped her legs. “So! Should we get started?”

“I guess,” Steven said. “Let me visit the bathroom first, I’ll meet you up in my room.”

Connie and Garnet walked up to the loft. Garnet sat on top of the television, and Connie sat on Steven’s bed and began unpacking the vitals monitor from its case.

“Does taking that machine for this mean that someone who needs it won’t have it?” Garnet asked.

“Nah, my mom bought this from the EMTs the last time they replaced their equipment. It’s an older model, but it still works.”

Steven had finished in the bathroom, and joined them in the loft, sitting cross legged on his bed next to Connie.

“OK, Steven, let’s get you hooked up first. Is it OK to take your shirt off?”

Steven pulled off his tank top. He had started to develop some muscles in his arms and chest, but he still looked like a chubby teenager. Connie put the patches on his chest and the clip on his finger.

“This will monitor his heart rate and blood pressure,” she explained for Garnet’s benefit. “We’ll be able to see if his condition improves or degrades, and if it gets critically low, the machine will alert us. OK, you’re all hooked up!”

“So how are you actually going to do this?” Garnet asked. “Do you want me to try yanking your Gem out like White Diamond did?”

“God no,” Steven said, “that hurt a lot. I was planning on just unfusing the normal way, but...Garnet, maybe you could help me with that?”

“What do you mean?” Garnet asked.

“I don’t really know how to do it,” Steven admitted. “If you wanted to, you could unfuse without being pulled apart, right? How would you do it?”

“You’ve fused and unfused before,” Garnet said.

“I’ve  _ fused _ before, but it wasn’t me  _ unfusing _ . I don’t really understand how Stevonnie or Smoky Quartz or any of the other fusions I’ve been a part of did it.”

Garnet rubbed her chin. “I suppose it’s just a matter of identifying the different parts that you consist of,” she said. “Feel the different beings that make you you, and think of them as separate. Once you do that, it’s hard  _ not _ to unfuse, since thinking of yourself as two parts instead of one whole is destabilizing to the fusion.” She paused for a second. “But I don’t know if it would be different when a human is part of the fusion. You’re right, I don’t know how Sunstone or Obsidian unfused, either.”

“OK, that helps a lot. Thanks Garnet.” Steven breathed deeply. “I guess I’m ready to give it a try.”

Connie touched his knee. “Good luck.”

Steven closed his eyes and put his hands in his lap. He was quiet for about a minute, then his breathing started to speed up. Just as Connie started to worry that he was going to start hyperventilating, his Gem started to glow and pull away from his belly. It was a slow process, and Steven started to sweat. Connie held on to his shoulder to steady him. After about twenty seconds, there was a flash of light that made Connie have to close her eyes. When she opened them, Steven had fallen backwards onto the bed, unconscious, his Gem lying next to him.

Connie quickly reached for the vitals monitor. The readings weren’t good, but they weren’t at critical levels. Allowing herself a quick moment of relief, she then turned back to Steven and started mopping the sweat from his face and chest.

Garnet had picked up Steven’s Gem, and was holding it in her hands. After a few seconds, it started to glow again, levitating a few inches above Garnet’s hands. It sat there glowing and levitating for awhile, and then with a pop, the ethereal embodiment of Steven’s Gem was in the room, looking like Steven, but pink and slightly transparent.

Nobody moved or said anything right away, the Gem staring at Steven with no expression on its face. The Gem made the first move, taking a step towards Steven. Connie jumped in front of Steven and Garnet reached out to grab it, and the Gem responded by quickly forming a bubble around itself, knocking Connie onto the bed next to Steven and Garnet off the side of the loft.

Garnet was back on her feet in an instant. She widened her stance and summoned her fists. “All right, you little brat. I’ve never fought the raw embodiment of a Gem’s power before, but I’ll try anything once.” She jumped back up to the loft as if it were no distance at all, and swung a fist at the Gem, who pulled out its shield and blocked the punch. The two stood off like that, the Gem immoble against Garnet continuing to push on the shield with her fist.

“Stop it!” Connie yelled. Garnet and the Gem looked at her and stopped pushing against each other, although neither put their weapon away. Connie turned to the Gem. “Please,” she said, “just let us try this. I know you have all of Steven’s memories, you know we aren’t keeping you from him forever.”

The Gem did not appear to be convinced, and went back to trying to push Garnet back off of the loft.

“Hey…” croaked a voice behind Connie. She turned around, and there was Steven, gray faced with bags under his eyes, barely managing to lift an arm in the Gem’s direction. “It’s OK,” he said.

The Gem paused, then finally dismissed its shield. Garnet stood back, but the Gem just walked to the window and sat on the floor, staring outside.

Connie turned back to Steven and kissed him on the forehead. “It’s OK now, Steven. Go to sleep, I’ll wake you up if anything changes.”

Steven smiled, then closed his eyes. Connie pulled the blanket over him. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes, Garnet having returned to her perch on top of the television, but it didn’t take long for Steven’s breathing to slow as he fell asleep.

“You want me to bubble it?” Garnet asked. If the Gem heard her, it didn’t react.

“No,” Connie said, “I want to monitor it, too. The Gem getting worse would be just as bad as Steven getting worse. Plus, we don’t know what would happen to Steven if we bubbled his Gem.”

“Right. So what’s the plan moving forward?”

“Well, there’s roughly three possibilities. If Steven starts to get worse, then he’ll fuse back right away, and unfusing again won’t be an option for any reason. If he doesn’t get worse but doesn’t sufficiently improve, then we’ll save unfusing as a possibility only in extreme circumstances. If he  _ does _ get better, then we can talk about the possibility of permanent separation.” A few more minutes of quiet, then Connie asked, “Hey Garnet?”

“Yeah.”

“If a fusion of three or more Gems unfuses, do they have to unfuse in the same combination they went in? Like if you formed Sardonyx with Pearl, would she be able to unfuse as Pearl, Ruby, and Sapphire?”

“I never really thought about it, but I don’t see why not. Why do you ask?”

Connie looked at Steven and stroked his hair. “Just working out a hypothesis.”

“All right. If you have everything under control here, I’ll leave you two alone.”

Connie nodded, so Garnet looked at the Gem one more time, obviously glaring even behind her visor, and got up. She walked down the stairs and into her room.

Connie stretched out next to Steven and watched him sleep, listening to the quiet beeps of the monitor.

The days stretched on, and while Steven did appear to be improving, it was slow. It wasn’t until day three that he was able to sit up for extended periods of time. That day they got a visit from Greg, who gave Connie and Steven the scolding of their adult lives for not telling him about their plan. Once he calmed down, though, he was clearly much less upset about the plan itself and the reasons they were doing it than Pearl and Garnet had been, only that he hadn’t been informed.

After a week, Steven was still doing fairly poorly, but he had stabilized, and Connie removed the vitals monitor. She also felt comfortable leaving him alone long enough to take a shower. As she was sitting on the bed, drying her hair with a towel, she watched the Gem. It had not moved, at all, since it first sat down in front of the window. Steven was awake, sitting up slightly on a pile of pillows Connie had placed behind his back.

“Hey Steven,” she said, “I hope you don’t take offense to this. But your Gem is...well, it’s…”

“Oh, it’s totally creepy,” Steven finished for her.

“Thank you, yes!” She dug the towel into her ear to dry it. “I kind of feel bad calling it ‘it,’ though.”

“It’s not really a person, though, right?”

“Well, still.” She turned to the Gem. “Hey, Steven’s Gem!” The Gem actually turned to her in response, still with no expression on its face, so Connie continued, “What are your pronouns?”

“I am not a person,” the Gem responded, before turning back to the window.

Connie and Steven looked at each other and shrugged.

About a week after that, Steven was moving around on his own, including being able to get to the bathroom without Connie’s help. He was still pretty weak, so Connie didn’t want him showering yet, but she allowed him to take a bath without her supervision.

After his bath, Connie and Steven were sitting on the couch, in about the same places they were when they told the Crystal Gems of their plan, when Pearl finally came out of her room. Garnet and Amethyst had been visiting them frequently, popping in for quick chats before and after missions, and longer visits when Steven felt up to it. But Pearl had not only been avoiding them, but had been staying back from missions as well.

Pearl sat next to Steven, looking at her lap and not saying anything at first. She then turned to Steven and said, “Oh, Steven! Look at you, you’re so pale!” She placed a hand on his forehead.

Steven chuckled. “I’m already doing better, Pearl. It’s probably good you weren’t around to see me at first.”

Pearl put her hands back in her lap. “So you’re really completely human right now?” Steven pulled up his shirt, revealing his Gemless torso. Pearl sighed. “I’m sorry I made such a fuss when you told me about this. I still really don’t approve, but it’s your Gem, and your choice to make what happens to it.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Steven said, “I shouldn’t have sprung it on you guys so suddenly.”

“As hard as it is for me to say, you’re probably right that you’re going to need to pass on your Gem someday. I just wish you didn’t have to figure out how to do it yourself. I wish we had made a plan for you. I wish  _ Rose _ had made a plan for you. As much as she loved humans, I really don’t think she thought enough about your species’ mortality.”

“She thought about it a lot, didn’t she?” Steven asked. “Everything I’ve heard of her, she seemed to think that was one of the things that made us special.”

“Yes, but she never really had to lose any of you. She didn’t have any close human friends before Greg came along, so the birth and death of humans was just background most of the time. And then Greg did show up, and she knew and understood that he would die someday, but she left before he did. She knew that you would be a human, but she didn’t leave any plans behind for what that would mean for you, or her Gem. So Rose got to experience such intimate friendships with humans, with Greg and his friends, and through her we became friends with humans, too. But Rose isn’t going to have to lose any of her friends. We will. We were the ones who lost her, and we’re going to be the ones who lose Greg and Connie and every other human we’ve come to love, and we’re going to be the ones who lose you, too.”

“Pearl...I had no idea you felt this way.”

“Well, it’s something I tried not to think about, but Amethyst really hammered it home so I couldn’t ignore it anymore.” She chuckled dryly. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, even though I think your plan was stupid and dangerous, I’m glad you had the foresight to plan ahead and be realistic about what it means to be a human, even if your mother wasn’t. Even if I wasn’t.” Pearl patted Steven on the shoulder, then got up and went back to her room.

Steven was quiet, staring straight ahead. Connie couldn’t think of anything to say, so she crawled next to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and they stayed like that for a long time.

About a month and a half after Steven first unfused from his Gem, he was better. He was moving freely, his appetite was back to normal, the color was back in his face.

“So what do you say, Dr. Maheswaran? Clean bill of health?”

Priyanka Maheswaran removed the blood pressure cuff from Steven’s arm. “Everything certainly seems to be in order,” she said.

“You hear that, Connie? I’m cured!” He stood up from the couch and he and Connie embraced. Steven lifted her up an inch but immediately put her back down. “Nope, you are heavier than I remember.”

“Your muscles may have atrophied a bit since you’ve been sedentary for the last six weeks,” Priyanka said, packing her things away.

“And I’m using my real muscles for the first time,” Steven said, rubbing his sore arms. “I didn’t realize how much humans struggled not having a Gem do all the heavy lifting.”

“Well, if you kids have everything under control here, I’ll be heading back.”

“Thanks again for coming by, Dr. Maheswaran.”

Priyanka and Steven shook hands, then she asked Connie, “Will we see you for dinner tonight?”

“I think so. Thanks, Mom.”

Priyanka smiled at them, then took her leave.

Steven turned to Connie. “Guess it’s time to go back, then, huh?” They walked up the stairs to the loft. Connie sat on Steven’s bed and Steven sat down on the floor next to his Gem. “Hey,” he said. The Gem turned to look at him, one of the only movements it had made since they separated. “It’s time to fuse back now, if that’s OK with you. Is there anything you want to talk about first, though?”

“I know everything you know,” the Gem responded.

“Can I ask you some questions, then?”

“You know everything I know.”

“That’s not true,” Steven said. “We’ve been separated for more than a month. What have you been thinking about this whole time?”

The Gem turned back to the window. “I’ve been evaluating potential threats to you and to me during our time of separation. I’ve been monitoring my strength when not attached to a human life. It doesn’t appear to have degraded.” It was quiet for a few seconds, and Connie thought it was finished, but then it continued, “I’ve also been thinking about what it would mean to be attached to a new human life.”

“What have you concluded?” Steven asked.

The Gem turned to him again. “I believe you are correct that it would be in my long-term interest to continue on in your generational lineage.”

Steven patted its hand. “You ready to fuse?”

“Yes.”

They stood up and joined hands. Like the first time they were torn apart from each other and finally joined again, this is when the Gem’s expression changed. It mirrored Steven’s, not laughing this time, but a smile of peaceful acceptance. Human Steven and Steven’s Gem spun around together, until it wasn’t Human Steven and Steven’s Gem spinning, it was just Steven.

When Steven came to a stop, Connie stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. Steven picked her up easily this time.

They were still in each other’s arms when the front door opened again. “Hey, Schtu-ball! I heard that today was the day!”

Steven put Connie down. “Dad! You just missed it!” He pulled up his shirt and showed off his Gem, sitting back in its place on his belly.

“Aw, I wanted to see you fuse!”

Connie and Steven headed down the stairs. “We’re sorry, Mr. Universe,” Connie said. “We’ll make sure to wait for you next time.”

Steven stopped at the foot of the stairs. “Next time?!”

Connie flopped down on the couch, facing the door. Greg sat down to her left. “We need to run more tests, Steven. We need to know that you get better  _ every _ time, first, and there’s more variables to test. Does it matter if your Gem is bubbled? Or far away from you? I also think we should get Stevonnie involved in this.” Steven looked at her curiously, so Connie continued, “I’ve been talking to Garnet, and I think it might be possible to have Stevonnie unfuse into you, me, and your Gem all at once. Could be useful.”

Steven sat down on the other couch segment. “I don’t know how often I can do this, though.”

Connie grabbed his hand and held it. “You don’t have to do it again for awhile. Maybe next year?” Steven grimaced, which made Connie laugh. “Maybe two years. You don’t have to do this all at once, there’s still time.”

“I’m really proud of you kids,” Greg said. “This is a big project you’re undertaking, and as hard as it is to see my son suffer like he was, I’m glad that you’re putting in the work to make sure everything is done right.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Steven said. “Hey, as long as you’re here, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you about.”

“Of course!”

Steven scratched the back of his head. “I’d actually like to know how you and Mom...how exactly you made me.”

Greg blushed. “You never wanted to talk about this before!”

“Yeah, it’s...kind of embarrassing.” Steven squeezed Connie’s hand. “But I don’t really know what I’m doing, and I could use all the help I can get. I know it won’t be exactly the same, but I need to know how I came to be if I want to figure out what to do next. And if you know how Mom figured it out, I’d like to know that, too.”

Greg scratched his beard. “I think I do remember her mentioning a few Homeworld books she had somewhere. Well, OK, if you really want to hear all this, I’ll tell you. I’ll try to keep it as scientific as possible.”

“Oh, hold on,” Connie said, pulling out her phone. “Do you mind if I record this, Mr. Universe?”

“I suppose it’s OK. But only audio! Don’t need my face associated with the only guide to creating alien hybrids in the universe.”

“Of course.”

So Greg began his story, and Connie and Steven began their studies into how the next generation of Pink Diamond might come to be.


	3. The Visitor (Sequel)

Steven ducked as Connie swung her sword at him, and it sailed harmlessly over his head. In response, he swung his sword at her feet, but she jumped over it. Before he was able to stand up, Connie had transitioned her horizontal swing into a vertical one, and her sword smacked him in the shoulder.

“Ow!”

“Oh my god, Steven, I thought you were going to block it!”

The two threw their rubber swords on the sand as Steven rubbed his shoulder. They were two of many practice weapons that Bismuth had helped them construct, having the weight and feel of a real weapon without the ability to cause injury more serious than a bruise.

“It’s OK. That was a pretty cool move you did, jumping over my sword.”

“Thanks.” Connie held her hand out to him, and helped pull him up. “In the future, you should try tripping your opponent with a leg, so you still have your blade to parry.”

Steven dusted off his hands on his jeans. “Oh, good idea. You mean like...this!” He moved to kick behind her ankles, but she sidestepped him, and with his balance compromised tripped him instead.

“Like that, yeah!” She said, standing over him.

Peals of laughter came from near the stairs to the temple. Steven rolled over to look at the baby, dressed in a swimsuit and oversized sun hat, who had been watching them spar. “You think that’s funny? You enjoy watching your father fall down?” His mock-angry voice just made the baby laugh harder.

Connie chuckled, too. “You do make a big production of it.” She picked up the practice swords. “What do you think? Should we move on to one-handed swords and shields, or…” she was interrupted by the sound of the warp pad from inside the temple.

Steven stood up again. “Sounds like the Gems are back. You wanna go back in and hear about their mission?”

Connie glanced at the sun, which wasn’t setting yet but was low enough in the sky to indicate late afternoon. “Actually, I think I’m going to head home and take a shower. Oh, and I have my meeting tonight, so I might be gone by the time you get back.”

“Oh right.” Steven grabbed her around the waist and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Say hello to everyone for me.”

“I always do.” She gave him a quick kiss back. “I’ll take the swords home, you can take care of that one?”

“I think we can tolerate each other’s company for a few hours.”

Connie laughed. “All right. I’ll see you tonight.”

Another kiss, and they parted ways, Connie picking up the swords and shields and heading down the beach, Steven walking over to the baby, who held up her arms to be picked up. “All right, you,” Steven said, hauling her up into his arms, “let’s go find out how your Aunts Crystal Gems did today.”

Vanessa Universe Maheswaren was a little over a year old. Connie’s pregnancy had been quick, barely four months, but it had gone smoothly and Vanessa seemed to be developing at a normal pace now. Of course, based on Steven’s youth, they knew her development could become staggered at any time, but they’d worry about that when it happened.

Steven climbed the stairs to the temple, making one-sided small talk with his baby. He pushed the front door open, calling out, “Hey guys--” when the person standing near the warp pad turned around, and he was looking into the eyes of his mother.

...No, of course she wasn’t his mother. She was definitely a Rose Quartz, though, presumably a real one. She was big and tall like Steven’s mother. Her clothes were white, but they weren’t a dress; they were more comparable to a martial artist’s gi, but with copious amounts of lace and tied around the waist with a thick pink sash with a bow in the back, and with an opening over her left shoulder to reveal her Gem. And bare feet. Her hair was big and pink, but not nearly as long as his mother’s, only coming down to about her shoulder blades. It was her face that was the most unnerving, with big eyes and pink lips like his mother’s, but just different enough that she was definitely a different Gem.

“...Hi,” Steven said.

The Rose Quartz crossed into the living area. “You must be Steven Universe,” she said with a soft smile. Her voice was different from his mother’s at least, more high pitched and lilting.

Steven shook his head, then walked into the room. “Yes, I am. I’m sorry, you caught me a little off-guard. My mother…” he trailed off.

“Oh, yes, I’ve been briefed of the situation.” She suddenly took a military-style brace. “Rose Quartz Facet-5 Cut-3NV, present.” She immediately reverted back to a more relaxed pose, with a smile and soft giggle. “It was quite surprising for me, too, coming out of my bubble and being informed of all that happened since we went in.”

“Right, the bubbles! Here, please have a seat.” The two of them sat on opposite segments of the couch, Vanessa in Steven’s lap. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Oh, it’s quite all right. It was for our own protection as much as the Diamonds’, since we didn’t have to worry about being mistaken for the rebel leader and hurt.”

“I was told when they unbubbled you,” Steven said. “I was invited to be there when they did, but...well, I thought it would be too hard.”

“I understand completely,” she said. “If this is still too much for you, I can leave and send a different Gem.”

“No, it’s OK. It’s about time I met the other Rose Quartzes.”

She smiled. “Before I get to why I came here, may I ask you something?” Steven nodded. “That baby, she’s the new Pink Diamond, correct?”

“She is. Her name is Vanessa.”

“If you don’t mind, could I see her Gem?” Steven pulled Vanessa’s swimsuit top up a bit, revealing her Gem. The Rose Quartz leaned forward to get a better look at it. “There she is,” she said, “That's My Diamond.” She sat back up. “I never got to meet her in person when she was still Pink Diamond, but I was as loyal to her as any Gem is to their Diamond.” Her smile faded. “I’m not upset that Pink Diamond rebelled like she did, but I wish I had known about her alter ego so I could have served her there, too. I would have done anything for her. I understand, of course--she couldn’t have known which of her Gems would have followed her over the other Diamonds--but I think she had more friends than she thought she did.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to join the Crystal Gems back then,” Steven said, “but there’s always room to join now, even if my mother isn’t around to lead it.”

She chuckled. “Oh no, I’m here on a different sort of business. I have to say something first, though, and I hope you don’t take offense, but a Pink Diamond’s Gem doesn’t really look anything like a Rose Quartz’s, does it? How did everyone think it was one for so long?”

“Oh, that. Well, on my mom and me, it was rotated, facing the rounder side that kind of looks like yours? Vanessa’s is oriented like Pink Diamond’s was originally.”

“Why has it reverted back now?”

“We don’t really know. Maybe the Gem knew it wasn’t being kept a secret anymore.”

“That does make the disguise easier to believe,” the Rose Quartz said. “Still, the colors aren’t exactly the same, are they?”

She was right about that. Vanessa’s Gem was a vibrant pink, while the Rose Quartz’s Gem was more of a pastel. “That’s true,” Steven said. “But I suppose everyone just believed her when she said she was a Rose Quartz, so why pay so much attention to the color of her Gem?”

“And there weren’t a lot of real Rose Quartzes around to compare with, either,” she said with a smile.

Vanessa started fussing in Steven’s lap. “Oh, I need to get her some water.” He stood up and carried Vanessa to the kitchen. “I know you guys don’t need to eat or drink, but is there anything I can get you?” he asked the Rose Quartz.

“I would love something sweet if you have it,” she said.

Steven balanced Vanessa on his hip, pulled a sippy cup out of a drawer, and filled it with tap water. Once he had given the cup to her and she was happily occupied, he filled a mug with hot water and dumped in a packet of hot chocolate. He walked back to the couch and handed the mug to the Rose Quartz.

“Do you and your baby live here alone?” she asked.

“We don’t actually live here at all,” he said. “She might move here when she’s old enough to begin her training, but for now it’s just Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, the leaders of the Crystal Gems, who live here.”

“Where are they now?” The Rose Quartz took a sip of her hot chocolate and smiled peacefully.

“Oh, out on a mission. They should be back soon.”

She looked at him curiously. “I was told that the Crystal Gems had made peace with The Diamond Authority. What sort of missions do you still have to do?”

“Well...technically we’re at peace with the Diamonds, yeah. But there’s still Gem architecture on Earth that needs to be maintained or safely demolished, there’s other Homeworld colonies we’ve been asked to help out with on occasion, and...there’s a few reactionary groups who don’t like that Homeworld has been gradually pulling out of all their colonies with organic life. The Gems are at one of those now. My wife and I would have joined them, but it doesn’t have oxygen.”

“Oh my! To be honest, I haven’t left the human zoo much since I’ve been unbubbled, I had no idea any of that was happening.”

“That means we’ve been doing a pretty good job keeping everything under control, right?”

The warp pad activated, and the Crystal Gems were home.

“Garnet, I really wish you had gone easier on some of those stragglers,” Pearl was saying as they stepped off the warp pad, “they could have--oh my god.”

Steven and the Rose Quartz stood up quickly.

“Hey, guys,” Steven said, trying to reassure them. The Crystal Gems’ weapons had not been drawn, but they were all clearly ready. Pearl and Amethyst each had a hand hovering over their Gem, and Garnet’s hands were drawn back. “This is Rose Quartz. I mean, this is  _ a _ Rose Quartz. She’s here for...I guess we haven’t gotten to that yet. But she’s OK!”

Pearl was the first to relax. She lowered her hand, and walked cautiously towards the Rose Quartz, who stood at attention again. Pearl reached a hand toward the Rose Quartz’s face, but then drew it back. “You’re really a Rose Quartz,” she said, “ a real one.” After a few seconds’ pause, she stood back. “I completely apologize. There’s nothing wrong with you, we’re just the wrong Gems to meet you. I mean! We’re very pleased to meet you! We just…”

“Who are you?” Garnet asked, lowering her fists to rest on her hips.

The Rose Quartz, still at attention, recited her facet and cut number again. “Rose Quartz Facet-5 Cut-3NV,” she said, looking over Pearl’s head.

Amethyst laughed, lowering her hand from her Gem. “Oh, wow!” she said, “It really is a real Rose Quartz!” She ran over to the Rose Quartz, causing her to relax her stance as she watched the much shorter Gem run up to her. When she was standing next to her, Amethyst stopped and cupped her lower face with her hand, looking her up and down. “Well, we can’t call you Rose Quartz, no offense.”

“It makes no difference to me,” the Rose Quartz said calmly. “You can call me by my Cut number if you would like.”

“Mm...that’s kind of a mouthful,” Amethyst said. “Steven! What’s a good human name for her?”

“‘Rosie’ is the most obvious choice, but--”

“Rosie!” Amethyst shouted, throwing up her arms. “This is so great, guys! Look at her!” She ran over to the kitchen and sat on the kitchen island, staring at the Rose Quartz in undisguised joy.

Garnet and Pearl didn’t look entirely convinced, but Amethyst’s enthusiasm seemed to lower their guard. Garnet walked over to Amethyst and leaned on the counter next to her, and Pearl hesitantly sat on the edge of the couch, prompting Steven and ‘Rosie’ to sit down again next to her.

“So…” Pearl said awkwardly, “you’re one of the...Rose Quartzes...that were bubbled in the human zoo, correct? What...what have you been doing since you were unbubbled?”

“Hmm...mostly the same as before I was bubbled, I suppose,” Rosie said, “serving as a personal guard to a high level Gem.”

“Homeworld promised us they would no longer be requiring Gems to perform labor based on their Gem type,” Garnet said.

“Oh, no one’s making me do anything,” Rosie said. “You can tell by my new form that I’m not in standard Quartz military mode, anyway. But, you know, we all like to do what we’re good at, right? I imagine it will be a few hundred years before you see Gems start to truly choose their own path.”

“Is the Gem you’re guarding the reason you’re here?” Pearl asked.

“Right!” Rosie said, clasping her hands together. “I guess I can get into why  _ I’m _ here now that  _ you’re _ all here. So!” She cleared her throat. “I’m here on behalf of my patron. She would like to request a meeting with all of you at your earliest availability. Tomorrow if you can.”

Pearl glanced at Garnet and Amethyst. “Yes, I think we’re free tomorrow. We’ve taken meetings from other Gems before, though, why didn’t she just send us a message over the communication network?”

“As I said, she is a high level Gem, and we thought it would be best for me to make a forward introduction for her in person. My patron is, well…” Rosie paused, “she’s a Corundum.”

“A Corundum?!” Garnet and Pearl said together.

Rosie shrugged in acknowledgement.

“Wait, what’s a--” Steven started.

“What’s a Corundum?!” Amethyst finished.

“A Corundum,” Garnet answered, “is the predecessor that eventually led to the creation of both Sapphires and Rubies.”

“I always thought they were a Homeworld myth,” Pearl said.

“They aren’t a myth!” Garnet said, “Sapphire has personally met two of them!” She exhaled, calming herself down, and explained to Steven and Amethyst, “There’s not very many of them, probably less than 20, and they’re some of the oldest Gems in the universe, younger only than the Diamonds themselves. There’s even some speculation that they’re older than Pink Diamond, but…” Garnet crossed her arms, “that part  _ might _ be a Homeworld myth,” she admitted.

“Why aren’t there more of them?” Steven asked.

Garnet paused. “That’s mostly Sapphire’s knowledge,” she said. “From what she’s learned from secondary sources, it seems like it was too difficult to keep the impurities out of new Corundums, so it was decided to develop those impurities into the specializations that became Rubies and Sapphires instead.”

“You can see why I was sent ahead of her,” Rosie said. “My patron thought it would be best if we got these explanations out of the way before her arrival.”

“Yes, of course,” Pearl said. “Well, should we get into it? I’d like to know everything about how to make our meeting as hospitable as possible.”

Rosie started talking with Pearl and Garnet, who had walked back over to them, about arrangements that her patron requested. Steven walked over to Amethyst, who opened her arms and made grabby hands, requesting to hold Vanessa.

Steven hesitated. “Get off the counter first,” he said.

Amethyst rolled her eyes, but she jumped off the counter, and Steven handed Vanessa to her. “There’s my Steven Jr.!” she said, gently bouncing her up and down, to Vanessa’s delight.

“So you seem pretty excited about...Rosie,” Steven said, “even though everyone else is nervous. What’s up with that?”

“I just really wanna fight her,” Amethyst said without hesitation. “I sparred with your mom so many times, dude, and she kicked my butt every time. I thought Amethysts were just worse Quartzes than Rose Quartzes. But your mom was a flippin’ Diamond! I wanna fight a  _ real _ Rose Quartz. Bet I could win.” Balancing Vanessa in one arm, Amethyst started flexing her other arm. Vanessa just laughed in response.

“All right, we’ll make sure the seating is arranged appropriately for tomorrow, and that everyone is situated ahead of your Corundum’s arrival,” Pearl was saying to Rosie. “Can we expect you to arrive about twenty minutes before she does to do a final check?”

“Of course,” Rosie said. “I can’t thank you enough for your accommodations, Pearl. I hope you don’t feel like you have to do this because of an outdated Gem ranking system.”

“Oh, absolutely not!” Pearl said. “It’s not every day I get to host someone I thought was just a legend meant to impress newly-emerged Gems!”

Rosie smiled and turned to leave, but Amethyst yelled, “Wait!” and ran over to her, Vanessa held against her chest. Rosie stopped and waited by the warp pad. “You can’t leave yet! We have to fight!”

“I’m sorry, but I really should get back,” Rosie said, apparently unfazed by Amethyst’s request other than the timing. “I might be able to make time after tomorrow.”

Amethyst sighed. “OK, but...at least tell me your Gem power so I can strategize! Is it a weapon?!”

Rosie put a finger to her chin. “It’s not a weapon exactly, but…” After a pause, the Gem on her shoulder started to glow, and pastel pink scale mail radiated out of her Gem until she was entirely covered. The floor creaked, suggesting she had taken on additional mass. She lifted her arms and turned in a circle, showing off.

Amethyst shrieked in excitement. “Oh my god I have to fight you!” She started bouncing Vanessa a little too vigorously, so Steven scooped her up.

“Oh, Steven, before I forget,” Rosie said, “there’s someone else my Corundum wants to talk with. Someone named Greg Universe?”

“My dad? Why?”

“I don’t know. Will that be a problem?”

“No, I think I should be able to get him over here. I guess...we’ll all see you tomorrow, then.”

“Right,” Rosie said, stepping onto the warp pad. She turned around and faced the room, giving a little finger wave before warping out.

The next day, the temple’s living area was more crowded than usual. The couch was left clear, and two folding chairs were placed across the coffee table for Steven and Greg. Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth had shown up and were relegated to the loft. Connie sat on the stairs.

They had finished the preparations, and so Rosie was chatting with Pearl when the warp pad activated. “That’s her!” she said, and Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, and Rosie gathered near the warp pad to greet the visitor.

The Gem that stepped off the warp pad was about the same height as Amethyst. Her skin was pure white, and the white hair she had piled in a bun on top of her head was very slightly translucent. She wore a pair of white glasses, a white sleeveless blouse gathered at the neck, white pants with black pinstripes, and black shoes. Steven reflected that she somewhat resembled White Diamond, only much, much smaller.

“My Corundum,” Rosie said in greeting.

Corundum smiled softly. It wasn’t a warm or cold smile, just professional. “Good morning, everyone. Thank you for allowing me into your home on such short notice.” Her voice was low pitched and slightly gravelly.

Pearl made a very slight bow in her direction. “It’s always a pleasure to host a Homeworld Gem interested in visiting Earth.”

Corundum paused, then said, “Your hospitality is very generous, considering how recently our two planets made peace after centuries of war. I greatly admire your proactive diplomacy, Pearl. If Homeworld had taken Gems like you seriously earlier, this worthless war could have been prevented altogether.”

As Pearl flushed and looked away, Corundum moved her gaze to Garnet. “It’s a personal honor to meet you, Corundum,” Garnet said.

“Ah, I was told a Garnet fusion would be here.” Corundum held her hands out to her. “May I see your Gems?” Garnet offered her hands to her, and Corundum examined each Gem for a few seconds. She rubbed her thumb over Ruby’s Gem. “You know, one of my very close Corundum friends oversaw your Ruby’s kindergarten.”

“Really?” Garnet asked, “Do you also know the Corundum who ran Sapphire’s kindergarten?”

“Yes, I know her as well,” she said. She looked up at her. “I’m glad to see you two are getting along. We Corundums had voiced our concerns that splitting us into two different Gem types would make you incompatible. I fear we may have been partially responsible for creating the taboo of mixed-Gem fusion that persisted for so long. I’m very sorry for the hurt that caused you.”

“Thank you,” Garnet said.

Corundum let go of Garnet’s hands and turned to Amethyst. “And you must be Amethyst. Thank you as well for inviting me into your home.”

Amethyst crossed her arms. “What, no personal history lesson to make me feel good about myself?”

“Amethyst…” Garnet scolded under her breath.

“Is that what I’ve been doing?” Corundum asked, glancing at Pearl and Garnet. She laughed and faced Amethyst again. “Well, all right. So what’s the issue you want addressed? That you’re short, right?”

Amethyst shrugged. “I guess.”

“You’re able to do everything a full-sized Amethyst can do?”

“Yeah?”

“I wish I could have shown you off to the Diamonds earlier, then. I suggested a few times that we start making Quartz soldiers smaller. The same amount of power packed into a more compact package. Easier mobilization, and easier for short Gems like me to talk to. Blue and Pink might have gone for it, but White and Yellow...well, you’ve met them. So how’s that for a story?”

“It’s pretty good,” Amethyst said, smiling.

“And you must be the previous iteration of Pink Diamond,” Corundum said, turning to Steven. “You call yourself Steven Universe, right? I hear you renamed my Rose Quartz, too.”

“Um...yes, that’s right,” Steven said, and stuck his hand out. Corundum hesitated for a moment, but then extended her own hand and they shook. “Welcome to Earth. Please, have a seat.”

Corundum followed Steven’s gesture toward the couch, and when she walked past him, he saw that her shirt was entirely open at the back, only gathering at the neck and hips, revealing her Gem placed at the small of her back. Before she got to the couch, she noticed Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth sitting in the loft and stopped. “I recognize the Peridot and Lapis,” she said, “I heard from a friend of mine that you two made Yellow Diamond very upset when you blew off your mission here.”

“What? Why didn’t she send anyone after me, then?!” Peridot asked.

“That would have drawn attention to your insubordination, and I think Yellow would have rather it not get out publicly.” She turned her head slightly to look at Bismuth. “I don’t recognize this Bismuth,” she admitted.

“Ha!” Bismuth laughed. “That’s probably better for me.”

“Hm, maybe so.” Corundum sat on the couch, sliding over for Rosie to sit to her left. Steven sat on one of the folding chairs to Greg’s right, Pearl stood off to Rosie’s side, and Garnet and Amethyst rested near the kitchen, Amethyst again sitting on the counter. “Now introduce me to these two humans,” she told Steven, gesturing to Greg and Connie.

“I’m Connie,” Connie said from her perch on the stairs.

“Connie is my wife,” Steven said.

“The mother of the current Pink Diamond, correct?”

“Vanessa, yes.” Vanessa, who had been dozing on Greg’s lap, stirred and sat up when she heard Steven say her name. “And this,” Steven said, patting Greg on the shoulder, “is Greg Universe, my dad.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Greg said. “I’m sorry I didn’t stand to greet you, but my leg’s been acting up again. But it will probably only be another decade before this one learns how to use her healing powers,” Greg patted Vanessa’s head, “so I should be ready for you then.”

“Do you need an explanation of how our family structure works?” Steven asked. “I know Gems don’t really have anything comparable.”

“No need,” Corundum said, holding up a hand. “I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in the human zoo since the end of the war, and while the domesticated human is behaviorally quite different from Earth humans, the biology appears to be approximately the same.”

“That’s where we met,” Rosie said.

“What sort of things did you do before the war ended?” Connie asked.

“Corundums didn’t really have a consistent role,” Corundum said. “We aren’t powerful enough to rule whole colonies like the Diamonds, but our lack of a specialization made it difficult to place us. We helped design the first Ruby and Sapphire kindergartens, and after that we served as bureaucrats and advisors, wherever the advice of an experienced Gem was helpful.”

“You’ve mentioned the Diamonds a few times,” Steven said. “Did you ever meet my mother?”

“A few times,” she said, “but only professionally. I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer regarding any personal anecdotes.”

“Is it true you’re older than Pink Diamond?” Amethyst asked, after which she received a jab in the side from Garnet’s elbow.

Corundum laughed. “I’ve been asked that a few times, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t know. The first time I met Pink Diamond, we were both already several hundred years old, but it wasn’t my place to ask her or the other Diamonds her exact date of emergence. The other Diamonds presumably know, if any of you ever feel up to asking one of them. I believe we were within a hundred years of emergence, at least. Practically facet-mates.” She leaned forward. “So the baby, Vanessa you said she’s called? Would it be all right if I held her?”

Greg glanced at Steven and Connie, and when neither of them objected, he leaned forward and handed Vanessa to Corundum.

Corundum took her and held her gently. Steven figured that if she had been studying humans at the human zoo, Vanessa was probably not the first baby she’d held. She quickly ran her hand over Vanessa’s stomach, presumably feeling for her Gem, but didn’t bother lifting her shirt when she found it. “So this baby Pink Diamond was created by you, Steven, with the help of your partner Connie?”

“Connie did most of the work,” Steven said.

“I appreciate what you’re doing,” Connie said with a small laugh, “but that’s only true of normal human pregnancies. You went through as much as I did in this one.”

“Oh?” Corundum asked. “Was it difficult for you?”

“Yeah, kind of,” Steven said. “Separating from my Gem wasn’t easy on my body. Things had to rearrange themselves after the space my Gem usually occupied was suddenly empty, and it took a lot out of me. One of the good things about no longer having the Gem--other than getting Vanessa, of course--is that I’ll never have to go through that again.”

Corundum looked Vanessa over, and then Steven. “She doesn’t look like you,” she said.

“No, she doesn’t,” Steven said, “she looks like her mother.” Connie gave a little wave. “We think she didn’t actually take any genetic material from me. Just a little biological clone of Connie, plus a few adjustments from the Gem. Like me and Dad here.”

“Is not being biologically related to their offspring something that bothers humans?” Corundum asked.

Steven shrugged. “Some humans, sure. Not all humans, and not me. Most of the people I consider family aren’t related to me by blood. Besides, Connie and I could still have another child, and that one would be biologically related to both of us.”

“If we can ever figure out how we would raise both a half-Gem and a full-human without either of them feeling left out,” Connie said with a sigh.

“OK. Now if my information is correct,” Corundum said, “Steven was created by Pink Diamond and Greg Universe through some kind of shapeshifting on Pink’s part, which resulted in Pink giving up her physical form. Vanessa here was created through fusion by Steven and Connie, and Steven gave up his Gem half but was able to retain his human form.” When no one told her she was wrong, Corundum continued, “How will Vanessa pass on her Gem?”

“Well, whether she does at all is going to be her decision,” Steven said.

“Is ensuring the existence of the Pink Diamond not important?”

“Of course it is, but not as important as Vanessa being able to make her own decisions about what happens in her life. We have no idea what would happen if the human the Gem was attached to never found a replacement before they died, and if Vanessa or her child or their child want to be the one to test it, that’s their decision to make.” Steven scratched his chin, rough with a short beard. “As for  _ how _ she would pass on her Gem, we’re not entirely sure about that, either. I see no reason why she couldn’t do the same thing Connie and I did with another woman, but whether she could carry the next generation herself is something we don’t know. That will be another decision for her to make, whether she wants to experiment with that.”

“I see,” Corundum said. “Your knowledge of this subject isn’t quite as refined as I was hoping, but your honesty about what you do and don’t know is reassuring in its own way.” She handed Vanessa back to Steven.

“You seem awfully interested in this,” Steven said, holding Vanessa to his chest. “May I ask why?”

Corundum pushed her glasses up her nose. “I suppose that’s as good as any an opportunity to get into why I’m here,” she said. She sat up straighter, hands folded in her lap. “I’d like to do what Pink Diamond did. I’d like to give my Gem to a human.”

Steven could almost physically feel the tension this created in the room. He glanced around, and everyone was looking around at each other, too, nobody sure what to say, except Corundum and Rosie, who looked at him expectedly.

Greg was the first one to speak. “Are you aware of what that means?” he asked.

“If I’ve read the reports about Pink Diamond correctly,” Corundum said, “giving my Gem to a human would effectively mean that I would stop existing. A human would take the power of my Gem in my place.”

“That’s about the long and short of it,” Steven said. “But not existing means you would really  _ not exist _ . There’s not a lot of evidence that you would still be there, lying dormant. In fact, most evidence points to the opposite, that your human offspring would  _ consume _ you.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Corundum said. “In fact I’m counting on it.”

Connie chimed in from her perch on the stairs. “Yeah, but...why?”

“The ‘long and short of it’ is that I’ve been around long enough and think it’s about time I let my Gem move on.”

“You’re not the first Gem to feel lost after the Diamond Authority relaxed their regulations,” Pearl said. “Traveling to other planets and making their own life seems to have helped them. You’re already on Earth, why not find out if it’s for you?”

Corundum waved her hand in dismissal. “This has nothing to do with the changes in the Diamond Authority’s rule, or the condition on Homeworld. I’ve always had a large degree of freedom, and I’ve already been to many different planets.”

“Earth is something special, though,” Greg said.

“Then it sounds like the perfect place for my successor to be raised.”

“If you just want to take a break, we could always just bubble you for awhile,” Steven suggested. “Maybe wake you up in a few years?”

“I could also just have myself shattered if that were my only concern.” Corundum touched her chest. “I have a very powerful Gem. It would be irresponsible to let it be quarantined in a bubble or otherwise incapacitated. It needs to be given to another being to wield its power.”

“It’s such a drastic thing to do, though,” Steven said.

“Do you think Pink Diamond was wrong to have done it herself?” Corundum asked.

The room was uncomfortably silent for several seconds, then Greg said, “Well, all right. Do you have the other parent picked out?”

Corundum blinked. “No, I don’t. Is that a problem?”

Greg scratched his chin. “Well...finding someone to provide the genetic material should be simple enough. What’s going to be more difficult is finding someone to parent the baby.”

Corundum looked around the room. “I assumed that the child could live here.”

Pearl sputtered. “What? We aren’t a babysitting service for every half-breed Gem that comes along!”

“We’d be happy to take the child in when it’s older,” Garnet corrected. “But we can’t care for a human infant.”

“It’s also just a good idea for the kid to have someone to go to when they have human problems,” Greg continued. “Someone who’s invested in them on a personal level.”

“I see,” Corundum said. “I suppose this won’t be as quick and easy an affair as I anticipated. What should my next step be, then?”

“Go and meet some humans!” Amethyst said.

“Yes, that does seem the most sensible and direct approach,” Pearl said. “You could stay with us for awhile, or there’s a small colony of former Homeworld Gems in the Prime kindergarten, or…”

“Or you could come live with us!” Peridot shouted from the loft.

“They  _ do _ take in their fair share of transients,” Pearl agreed with a smile.

“Seeing as how I don’t need to sleep, I don’t think a permanent base camp will be necessary,” Corundum said. “But I thank you for your offer, and perhaps I’ll take you up on it if I ever need temporary rest. Do you have any suggestions on where I should go to meet a human who could parent my Gem?”

“Beach City has lots of cool people,” Steven said. “But the world’s big. I have no idea where you’re going to meet that person that you click with.”

“I’m certainly not in any kind of hurry,” Corundum said. “Perhaps I will take your suggestion to explore Earth for awhile first and see how I like it. And how I like the humans.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Steven said. “Connie, my dad, and I will write down everything we know about Gem hybrid reproduction. You know, in case you stay around for a long time and we’re not around to instruct you.”

“Why don’t you explore the town for awhile?” Connie suggested. “We’ll have your documents ready tomorrow.”

“Thank you, you’ve all been very generous. I’ll do just that, and give you the use of your living area back.” She stood up. “Shall we go for a walk, Rose Quartz?”

Rosie stood up. “Of course, my Corundum.”

Goodbyes were said all around, with more thanking from Corundum and Rosie for the Crystal Gems’ help and hospitality, and more thanking from the Crystal Gems for the visit. Rosie reassured Amethyst several times that she would be back to spar with her. Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth were allowed to come down from the loft to give more personal greetings.

As Corundum and Rosie walked down the front stairs of the temple, Steven and Connie watched from the front window. Connie put her arm around his waist and her head on his shoulder, and they held Vanessa together. Corundum and Rosie chatted casually as they walked down the beach toward town, and Connie said quietly, “Sounds like you might get your little brother or sister after all, Vanessa.”

Steven reflected about how his family was someday no longer going to be the only half-Gem humans. And he had a feeling Corundum wouldn’t be the last. He kissed Connie on the head and squeezed Vanessa’s hand.

His strange family was going to get a lot bigger.


End file.
